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Peepo

macrumors 65816
Jun 18, 2009
1,174
627
I went from iPad mini 4 to iPad pro 9.7 with smart keyboard cover and silicon case. I pickup my iPad 4 now and then (also have silicon case and smart cover) and it is too small and seems slow now. Sure the iPad mini 4 is more portable but I would rather have a larger screen which is easier to read since the 9.7 is portable enough. I usually am packing around my work laptop and maybe even my macbook pro if I go on a trip. I find the added volume of iPad pro 9.7 is insignificant and nothing really to worry about over a mini.
 

joeblow7777

macrumors 604
Sep 7, 2010
7,195
9,040
For me, it's not even the lesser weight or volume that makes the mini form factor more appealing. I just love getting the full iPad experience in something that fits so perfectly in the palm of my hand.
 

ssledoux

macrumors 601
Sep 16, 2006
4,412
4,243
Down south
This thread is making me want an iPad mini. I LOVE my 12.9" pro, and use it as my primary computer now, having given up my iMac. I also LOVE my 6S+ and, like most people, couldn't really live without it.

However, I'd like something light enough to hold with one hand for reading in bed. I found even my Air2 to be a bit much to hold comfortably for reading. I bought a Kindle, but of course it limited me to only reading the books that were on my Kindle - no online articles or things like that. I think a mini 4 might be the best of both worlds in that I could do my Kindle book reading, and still read things online as well.

Might have to take the leap...
 

ericwn

macrumors G5
Apr 24, 2016
12,121
10,912
My oroblem is not just the size difference,I feel Mini 4 is not powerful enough to keep another 2 years,so basically the main reason I traded it for the Oro 9.7 was the good specs of Pro 7.9 which will be good for at least 3 years.
You said you use the device for web, email and YouTube. That pretty much works on ANY iPad mini, and these tasks won't demand more processing power in the near future either.
 

Channan

macrumors 68030
Mar 7, 2012
2,890
3,119
New Orleans
For me, it's not even the lesser weight or volume that makes the mini form factor more appealing. I just love getting the full iPad experience in something that fits so perfectly in the palm of my hand.
Not sure what you mean by volume, because it's exactly the size of the iPad mini that appeals to me so much. Not that it fits in the palm of my hand, but I can actually slide it into my cargo shorts pockets if I have to instead of setting it down somewhere.

When I get home, my iPad mini 4 goes on the charger and I use my iPad Air 2. But I don't bring my Air out with me anymore since getting the mini.
 

joeblow7777

macrumors 604
Sep 7, 2010
7,195
9,040
Not sure what you mean by volume, because it's exactly the size of the iPad mini that appeals to me so much. Not that it fits in the palm of my hand, but I can actually slide it into my cargo shorts pockets if I have to instead of setting it down somewhere.

When I get home, my iPad mini 4 goes on the charger and I use my iPad Air 2. But I don't bring my Air out with me anymore since getting the mini.

By volume I mean the space it occupies. Someone had mentioned that the Mini doesn't offer that much of an advantage over 9.7" models in terms of weight and the space it takes up in ones bag since the 9.7 models are pretty compact. But my point is just that the mini still fits in my hand more comfortably.
 

Soondae

macrumors 6502
May 22, 2012
253
99
Hua Hin, Thailand
I traded in my 1st GEN mini for the Air 2 about a year and half ago thinking that now that I am retired I wouldn't need my Macbook Air anymore and would sell it traveling with the just the Air 2. Well I just wasn't comfortable relying on the iPad Air 2 instead of the Macbook Air, especially since no USB ports for use with flash drives.

As the past year went bye I really was missing the form factor of the iPad mini and had been thinking over this past year of trading in the Air 2 for the mini 4. Then Best Buy comes up with this great sale on the mini 4, they also have a very aggressive trade in program. So yesterday I traded my iPad Air 2 Gold 64gb in on a Mini 4 Gold 64gb at $100 off plus my $215 trade in which was better than Apples trade in and now I am so happy with the power of the Air 2 in the Mini form factor. Also I was impressed with my local Best Buy Customer Service, they knew what they were doing as we wiped the Air 2 for trade in, whole process was rather painless. And yes I had a complete backup of the Air 2 on my Macbook Air so setup of the mini 4 was totally painless.

I stopped by our local Apple store to see if they could offer a similar deal on the trade in first, it was going to cost so much it wasn't worth it. I then showed the Apple store rep the best buy deal and trade in value, she looked at me and said WOW! Go to Best Buy which I did.

Truth is for me having the iPad as a glorified e-reader is really what I wanted more so than as use as a notebook computer.
 

leebroath

macrumors 65816
Jul 26, 2010
1,358
952
Scotland
I absolutely love my Mini 4, I didn't upgrade from the 2 to 3 as it was such a crap upgrade in hardware... but when the 2gb Ram was revealed I immediately placed my order (finally no more reloading webpages)

I'm hoping there is an update to a Mini Pro, but if not I'm quite happy with the size and what my 4 does on a daily basis :)
 
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AVBeatMan

macrumors 603
Nov 10, 2010
5,969
3,852
I absolutely love my Mini 4, I didn't upgrade from the 2 to 3 as it was such a crap upgrade in hardware... but when the 2gb Ram was revealed I immediately placed my order (finally no more reloading webpages)

I'm hoping there is an update to a Mini Pro, but if not I'm quite happy with the size and what my 4 does on a daily basis :)

@leebroath. Blast from the past! Hoya doing?
 

jjhoekstra

macrumors regular
Apr 23, 2009
206
29
I loved my mini, but my eyes did not... (everything got too small for me to read) A larger air did the trick, and the big pro will help in 1 or 2 years. And than I'll get me some of them reading-glasses!
 

Night Spring

macrumors G5
Jul 17, 2008
14,886
8,056
I loved my mini, but my eyes did not... (everything got too small for me to read) A larger air did the trick, and the big pro will help in 1 or 2 years. And than I'll get me some of them reading-glasses!

Wouldn't getting reading glasses now be cheaper?

Me, I've gotten to the point where I really appreciate the 12.9 Pro, even with reading glasses.
 
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Skylitfly

macrumors 6502a
May 3, 2014
583
215
I understimated the bulk and size and specially weight of the iPad Pro.and now realise how better the form factor of Mini was for my type of usage.(web broswing,email,youtube).
I do realize that experience is subjective but this just sounds ridiculous.

iPad Pro is so light that I can hold it in one hand and I barely feel the weight, it fits in some of my jackets pocket and if I put it in a bag it feels like the bag is basically empty. I think that in terms of portability and weight iPad Air 2 and now the iPad Pro 9,7" made iPad Mini basically obsolete.
 

AVBeatMan

macrumors 603
Nov 10, 2010
5,969
3,852
I do realize that experience is subjective but this just sounds ridiculous.

iPad Pro is so light that I can hold it in one hand and I barely feel the weight, it fits in some of my jackets pocket and if I put it in a bag it feels like the bag is basically empty. I think that in terms of portability and weight iPad Air 2 and now the iPad Pro 9,7" made iPad Mini basically obsolete.

Do you use your 9.7 Pro without a case?
 

jamesrick80

macrumors 68030
Sep 12, 2014
2,665
2,218
How can you really know if the Mini 4 is not powerful enough for another 2 years? It's about a year old now, and mine certainly hasn't shown any signs of aging. I expect it will run iOS 10 without problems, so it should be good for a second year. After that, who knows? But it has the same RAM as the 9.7" Pro, and while the A8 processor is obviously slower, I think that the processors have gotten to the point where it really doesn't matter as much as it used to. What do you use your iPad for that you feel a Mini 4 won't be able to handle in the next couple of years?

I do hope that Apple keeps updating the Mini line, but I'm not particularly worried about the Mini 4 being under powered.

It has the same amount of ram which is 2 GB but not the same type of ram....2 gb ddr3 versus the much faster 2 gb ddr4 ram in the iPad Pro......mini 4 is more similar to the air 2 and not the iPad Pro 9.7......also the mini 4 has a much slower processor....
 

Night Spring

macrumors G5
Jul 17, 2008
14,886
8,056
I think that in terms of portability and weight iPad Air 2 and now the iPad Pro 9,7" made iPad Mini basically obsolete.

Have you tried the Mini4? It's so light, I want to use it to replace my iPhone. If the Mini could sync with the Apple Watch, I'd use the Mini4 instead of an iPhone.
 

joeblow7777

macrumors 604
Sep 7, 2010
7,195
9,040
It has the same amount of ram which is 2 GB but not the same type of ram....2 gb ddr3 versus the much faster 2 gb ddr4 ram in the iPad Pro......mini 4 is more similar to the air 2 and not the iPad Pro 9.7......also the mini 4 has a much slower processor....

But if you're just using it for things like web browsing and email, does it really matter? It's like PCs. It gets to a point where it's overkill for what most people are using it for.
 

leebroath

macrumors 65816
Jul 26, 2010
1,358
952
Scotland
Yes seams as the iPad Air 2 Wifi and my lass has the 2, I've held it and I totally know the difference Ho,ding it one hand

I'll stick to the Mini 4 :)
 

akdj

macrumors 65816
Mar 10, 2008
1,190
89
62.88°N/-151.28°W
Part of me thinks the iPad Mini may or may not be updated. I still think it's relatively popular. But with Apple straying towards the Pro line, I wonder the future of the Mini will be. I somewhat think the Mini will be like the iPod Touch eventually and slowly be phased out in my opinion.

Last I checked iPod Touch was still on sale. I'm certain it's not been 'slowly phased out'....

This thread is making me want an iPad mini. I LOVE my 12.9" pro, and use it as my primary computer now, having given up my iMac. I also LOVE my 6S+ and, like most people, couldn't really live without it.

However, I'd like something light enough to hold with one hand for reading in bed. I found even my Air2 to be a bit much to hold comfortably for reading. I bought a Kindle, but of course it limited me to only reading the books that were on my Kindle - no online articles or things like that. I think a mini 4 might be the best of both worlds in that I could do my Kindle book reading, and still read things online as well.

Might have to take the leap...

Time to grab one!
(Don't listen, I'm a bad influence;))
I find the iPad Pro 12.9 & iPad Mini (4) to be completely different devices that certainly excel in different areas. I'm 45 and empathize with the folks with failing eyesight! 20/20 or better my entire life and 4-5 years ago they're performance has dropped off a cliff!

I love the larger iPad for reading and production/productivity
The iPad M4 is absolutely perfect for 'games'. While I'm not a 'gamer' per se, I do have better than 24 hours of play in Real Racing 3! I've played on all of the new iPads (bride owns an iPad Pro9.7") & don't see or notice any performance differences. Today
And to the OP, I can't imagine the development landscape change significantly over the next couple years as many are still happy with A5/6/&7 devices sporting a single GB RAM. And 'lesser' SoCs than the A8. It's a killer iPad if you have issues holding their siblings.
That said, if told I could keep only one, bigger...IMHO=Better
 

44267547

Cancelled
Jul 12, 2016
37,642
42,495
Last I checked iPod Touch was still on sale. I'm certain it's not been 'slowly phased out'....


Then actually take the time and re-read my post. Because I never said it was slowly phased out. I understand it's still on sale. I stated I believe I the iPod Touch will eventually be phased out. It's a dying product for Apple.
 

Channan

macrumors 68030
Mar 7, 2012
2,890
3,119
New Orleans
I do realize that experience is subjective but this just sounds ridiculous.

iPad Pro is so light that I can hold it in one hand and I barely feel the weight, it fits in some of my jackets pocket and if I put it in a bag it feels like the bag is basically empty. I think that in terms of portability and weight iPad Air 2 and now the iPad Pro 9,7" made iPad Mini basically obsolete.
I can slip my iPad mini 4 into my cargo shorts pockets. Not ideal for always carrying around, but it's possible if I need to do it. That alone makes it MUCH more portable than my iPad Air 2, which stays at home all the time now.

Have you tried the Mini4? It's so light, I want to use it to replace my iPhone. If the Mini could sync with the Apple Watch, I'd use the Mini4 instead of an iPhone.
I would almost consider this except I get free service on my iPhone, so there's no reason not to have one. I bring my iPhone SE and my iPad mini 4 with me almost everywhere I go.
 
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